Design

I have more than enough vegetable seeds already, I'm sure, both for my own use, and to donate to grow as transplants for Garden Fest , a South Carolina Botanical Garden event in April that encourages folks to grow their own vegetables. And thanks to Southern Exposure Seed Exchange and Renee's Garden Seeds , with their policies of distributing extra seeds from last year's packaging for non-profit use, I should be set for my outreach activities, both in classes and in our demonstration gardens. Hmm, so why am I still looking at seed catalogs?  It's fun, of course.  Fortunately, ordering potatoes, leeks, and onion sets helps satisfy the urge to order more seeds.... Next year, I'm going to have low hoops covering some of my vegetable beds (in the mountains and the Piedmont) -- then, even with snowy conditions, I'll be able to harvest kale, collards, and other hardy winter greens.  And, there's an unheated hoophouse at the middle school around the corner in the ...

I have a lot of seeds already. Really. This is just one very small bit of my overall collection. I determinedly tried to give away as many as I could in programs and events last spring, but of course, this just allowed me freedom to order more. I actually was dog-earing pages in my Territorial Seeds 'winter' catalog yesterday. Hmmm. And my friend CEN gave me a bunch when she moved to a (much) colder climate, so really, I don't need many more for this fall season. But the allure of another perfect winter lettuce variety, tender collard cultivar, a delicious young spinach, and maybe even a tasty beet or two is certainly alluring, especially when woodchucks are eating the squash in the satellite garden, and they're suffering from powdery mildew, in any case. And what about the kitchen garden next to the Discovery Center (the visitor center for the botanical garden where I work) and the participants in fall vegetable gardening programs, and the folks with donated Earth B...

Oh, happy day, for more reasons than one (certainly for many Americans), but the least of them is receiving the last of my early January seed orders. Lots of tomato seeds from Totally Tomatoes. Hard to beat. I'm ready to start transplants, but it's way too early. Maybe if there's a warm spell, I can amend some of my garden beds with compost.

Um, I love to look at seed catalogs, and seeds are really CHEAP, as hobbies go. I've been cataloging mine in a spreadsheet (an uncharacteristic activity) to see what I have to grow as transplants for an upcoming Garden event to encourage people to grow some of their own vegetables. We represent lots of partners: the SC Botanical Garden, Upstate Locavores, CU's Sustainable Ag program, CU's Home and Garden Information Center, SC Master Gardeners, and local community groups. This will be a free event, with lots of info about how to grow vegetables (as a revived Victory Garden sort of thing). Many Americans are enthused about giving vegetable gardening a try; I'm seeing much more interest now. Hooray. But, here's the list (uh, I did say I like seeds, right). Donating these seeds or transplants gives me the opportunity to buy more. Hmm, and I'll probably be enticed to buy transplants to support the cause, too! Not a bad thing. What a nice list to contem...

I thought I'd organize my seeds a bit to get ready for planting the first sowing of lettuce. I usually try to keep them in a (vaguely) organized way in containers, according to planting season. But my flurry of seed ordering activity in early summer had overwhelmed that 'system.' So I thought I'd spread them out on the breakfast table. This is a pretty amazing array of seeds, even for me. (Notice that the seed packets are stacked , and the full containers of flower and spring vegetable seeds....). Uh-oh. I think my idea had been to give seeds away at upcoming vegetable gardening programs? Plant things in the Food for Thought Garden? Since I'm really not a file-sort of person (I have started shoving my seed order packing slips in a folder, however), and like my (somewhat) orderly stack method of working, I normally just enjoy discovering seeds that I'd forgotten I'd ordered -- and hadn't yet planted. But this does seem a bit of an overabundance of see...

I couldn't help myself -- I ordered more seeds yesterday evening (this time from Territorial Seeds, an excellent seed company based in Oregon). I used the last of my yard-long bean seeds Saturday afternoon, and I wanted more to plant, as I harvest the last potato beds, and the garlic beds. We have such a long growing season here in the Southeast (and it's getting longer), there's no reason not to plant more 'warm season' veggies in mid June. I'm planning to put in more tomatoes too, for a fall harvest, but they'll need to go in the garlic beds, for a good rotation, since they're related to potatoes. My excuse is that I need more seeds for fall. Hmmm. Actually I just like trying new things. So I added French sorrel, more Tom Thumb lettuce (a remarkably attractive small butterhead), parsnips, and something called Dyna Kohlrabi to my 'cart.' And, definitely, I need the purple mustard, speckled lettuce, argula, Tuscan kale, and Pac Choi for fall...

I'm afraid that I'm probably a vegetable and seed addict; I love looking at seed catalogs and thinking about growing new (or heirloom) varieties of vegetables, trying new things (geez, it only takes 60 days for kohlrabi to mature?), or trying to figure out what odd things in foreign markets might be. Anyone know what this is? We saw it in a South Indian market this winter break. It doesn't appear to be celeriac, nor jicama, but seems to be something that grows underground. I ordered another flurry of seeds today, to have enough to get the early spring garden set (uh, actually I just couldn't help ordering them). We have really 5 seasons of growing here in Zone 7b (working on Zone 8), a concept that I'm embracing thanks to Barbara Pleasant, a great gardener and garden writer. Gardening is a wonderful hobby; where else could I spend $25 that would provide such a wonderful promise of future delicious experiences (eating homegrown vegetables) to come.

Seed catalogs are a great source of inspiration, especially in the grey days of winter. Here in the South, we often have mild days punctuated by colder weather, so we have plenty of opportunities to spend time outside evaluating new projects and doing prep for late winter and spring planting. Perusing the stack of seed catalogs, making orders, and considering planting plans are evening and cold day activities, and being someone who loves to buy seeds -- this is a wonderful antidote to cold, dark days inside. Some of the things I enjoy ordering are beautiful lettuces, unusual squashes, purple pole beans, small striped eggplants, specialty sweet peppers, edible flowers, potato sets in rainbow hues, teeny round carrots, yard-long beans ... Some of my favorite vegetable and seed catalogs are: The Cook's Garden www.cooksgarden.com Johnny's Seeds www.johnnyseeds.com Nichols Garden Nursery www.nicholsgardennursery.com Pinetree Garden Seeds www.superseeds.com Park Seed www.parkseed.c...